The challenge of writing a blog about one’s own enterprise is the temptation to self-promote, or, to express grievances perhaps best not codified in the written word. In my blog Eastside Chippery Part One I admit to some self-promotion, but for the most part feel that the conversation managed to stay solidly focused on the philosophical purpose that motivated this writer to launch a restaurant endeavor in the worst economic environment in the modern history of our country. And I did note in Part One that having owned restaurants in the past, I did, and apparently still do have some prowess with respect to the culinary arts. So what more is there to say? I’ve stated previously my motivations, but I would fill remiss if I did not at the very least wordsmith up a few thought about the lessons I’ve learned. Fancy speech aside, I’ve been in the trenches for nine months now, I’ve made and served approximately 25,000 meals, and I’ve had the opportunity to reacquaint myself with real people in the real world—here are some of my thoughts:

The Economy: in the past people have been the victims of a bad economy. This is not the case today. Today, it is the economy that is the victim of people and or a culture that has produced a massive number of individuals who want to gain material wealth through no effort of their own. This is the type of person that signed a mortgage document, knowing that they would not make the payment if their property didn’t continue to go up in value. It’s the young Mexican girl I gave a job to that rather than provide a social security number and accept a check for her work, has taken the Eastside Chippery to the labor board claiming that she was denied lunch 53 straight days in a row—this would allow her to collect a significant penalty under California labor law. Really??? 53 in a row! Really???

The Customer Isn’t Always Right: out of the 25,000 or so happy people we’ve served there have been a few, less than ten I would say, that have expressed their opinions as to how we should properly conduct our business. One woman insisted that we should serve our Chef Stan Burger with cheese. Continue reading EASTSIDE CHIPPERY PART II →

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I was thinking about things to do Downtown on a Wednesday night—Jazz and Modern Mexican Food crossed my mind. Not as arbitrarily as it might sound given an encounter I was lucky enough to have with the lovely Lauren Brand at the June, Marketing Round Table.

“Lauren Brand, with Provecho and Remedy,” she stood and said. This introduction is part of what happens at the meeting put on by Hal Bastian and company—Downtown BID.

After the meeting I was sure to run into Lauren, and she was sure to inform me that I should take her up on an offer to visit Provecho for some Wednesday Night Jazz and Modern Mexican Cuisine. Somehow we snuck a Happy Hour in, which was more than enough to convince me to trust Lauren on her Wednesday night suggestion.

The story of Provecho really doesn’t start with all of this PR / blogging talk…It’s more of a love story that began when a young girl named Jill and a boy named Gabriel worked at a restaurant in Pasadena called Mi Piace—Jill went on to college, so did Gabriel. Jill graduated college and opened Café Citron, a tiny neighborhood place in Monrovia. Gabriel went on to become Chef Gabriel Morales…Then Jill and Gabriel got married.

It does not take a cognitive epiphany to understand that Jill and Gabriel were destined to open a restaurant—lucky for us downtownsters.

Provecho’s décor is what I call high end soothing. Yes, it has a hint of modern, which foreshadows Chef Gabriel’s take on cooking.

But before discussing the food at Provecho I must mention two of the best drinks of downtown libation lore. Continue reading PROVECHO →

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I had walked by the location of the highly anticipated bakery countless times—the corner of 11^th and Hope. Hoping (cheap play on words I know) that it would open soon and wondering why the hell a bakery was named Hygge. I know both of the owners, Ray and Helen, and could have asked about the strange name for a bakery, but like that pebble in my shoe that I do nothing about until I get home and put on my jamys (ok I don’t wear pajamas but…) I let it alone and endured the annoyance.

Then came the email from Ray inviting me and the rest of the neighborhood to a Grand Opening Day of Danish Pastry eating. I should point out here, for those that are not familiar with the corner of 11^th and Hope that Hygge is at the base of Luma, where both Ray and Helen also live upstairs. This little shindig was packed and I did try a few delicious morsels, but to do a proper story I decided to wait until I could come back, sit down comfortably, and try all eighty creations that are baked up fresh daily…The arrangements were made! (not really that dramatic I just sent Ray a text)

What would a Stan Lerner blog be if I didn’t say something like, “Hey business owners that aren’t downtownsters or happen to be big corporations (AEG) that just want to exploit our ever growing density to make a buck—take note that a little locally owned bakery invited everyone in the neighborhood over for some FREE DANISH!!!” Okay, I’m on vacation in Vegas so I won’t go dark, but seriously Hygge joins with Bottega Louie in making the big guys look silly. Better product, better price, and owners that care about the community. And for some reason my friend April The Stripper, who is looking at my screen as I write this masterpiece, has just informed me that Hygge means: to hang out in Danish. Now if she would just go back to rubbing oil on my back and let me finish my blog, she would know that Ray did tell me this very fact…But that’s still a bit further along in the story.

So knowing that I have blood sugar as volatile as Mount Saint Helens, I invited Shannon to write this piece—allowing me to gorge on Danish and not worry about being too shaky to take notes. And to call 911 in case I went into some kind of shock…I didn’t want Ray or Helen to have to deal with this if I hit the floor. So think of this as a blog about the writing of a blog. Continue reading LET’S HYGGE! →

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When it comes to Downtown , downtownster puts most of its effort into telling people what to do, but recently I’ve come across some what not to do’s. And with so many good choices Downtown I’d hate to see you waste your money on anything less than a great experience. SO BE WARNED!!!

Unhappy Hour At Chaya

About a month ago downtownster Shannon and myself stopped by Chaya Downtown to take a look around. The manager of the swank establishment asked us to come visit as his guest anytime. A couple of nights ago we took him up on his offer or at least what we thought was an offer.

“If you place your order in the next two minutes you’ll still get the Happy Hour price,” said the hostess.

“Classy,” I thought to myself. “And this place is dead,” I thought still further as I looked around at the not happening Happy Hour scene.

Shannon asked if the manager was there. We were informed that he was, but he was upstairs too busy doing paperwork to answer the phone. Apparently he didn’t realize that we were actually in the restaurant when giving this brush-off. Because about fifteen minutes later he was in the restaurant milling around—uncomfortably surprised to see us sitting.

I ordered the Tuna Melt and some Fish ‘n’Chips. The Tuna Melt, which was literally bite-sized, does not compete with Subway on its worst day. The Fish ‘n’ Chips were a soggy mess that seemingly came out of the frozen food section at Costco. Amazingly, our server was completely baffled when I asked for some vinegar—to give this cardboard concoction some taste. A few minutes later I was brought vinegar—not of the Apple Cider / malt variety, but of the clean your window ilk. Shannon had a sushi roll, which was unremarkable, and beer that was thankfully not skunked. This waste of time and calories totaled $25.86 plus tip. Seriously, with every restaurant in town offering Happy Hour, skip this one.

Fleming’s

If the Fish ‘n’ Chips served at Chaya for Happy Hour aren’t soggy and tasteless enough to make you never want to go to the UK—Flemings serves up the same Costco style frozen fare as a lunch special. So much oil went into my meal that OPEC had to raise its production for a week to make up for it. Thankfully, and I use this word dripping with sarcasm, the lack of taste one might find at Chaya was replaced by a freezer burned smoky flavor at Fleming’s. Continue reading Three Things To Miss Downtown →

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Upon entering the downtown Bottle Rock we were struck by stark modernity.  The room is made of cast concrete: bearing walls, interior walls and both cylindrical and square pillars supporting a twelve foot-high ceiling.  Straight ahead was a twenty-stool bar, half of which is dedicated to a show kitchen with pristine half-inch plate glass separating bar guests from the white-jacketed culinary staff.   The three-inch thick slab of bar top itself, as well as the low cocktail tables in the lounge and the bathroom counters, is made of a material we guessed could be the source of the wine bar’s name.  It is a sort of “bottle rock”.  This grey-based composite looks as though semi-precious stones are mixed in, such as tiger’s-eye, Lapis Lazuli and malachite but actually, it’s all recycled wine and beer bottles.  There are eighteen carefully chosen beer taps featuring several selections not even found at The Yardhouse. Continue reading Bottle Rock Media Dinner Review →

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Hello wine lovers it has been  a few days since I have written. I was invited to the Los Angeles International Wine Competition.  The event was held at the Los Angeles County Fair grounds in one of the exhibition halls. The 50 plus judges were set into 5 and 6 person panels Judging started at 8:30 Wednesday morning. Wines were served according to panel order. This first panel consisted of 40 cabernets in the range of 1.00 dollar to 14.99 per bottle. Continue reading Hello Wine Lovers! →

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